McDATA and HP Extend Alliance

   McDATA has announced an expansion of its alliance with HP to include support of multivendor storage fabric interoperability and an independent services contract between the two companies. The expansion will let HP consumers easily deploy McDATA directors as part of a multivendor core for existing fabrics. The independent services contract will let HP provide services and support for McDATA products. "Through this advanced partnership, HP customers have greater flexibility, availability and scalability options for their storage networks, and McDATA customers have access to HP's services group, which has the breadth of experience and geographical footprint to provide outstanding service levels across the enterprise," said Doug Chandler, director of IDC's Infrastructure Management Services program.